"I use the term 'DesFi' as a play on 'SciFi'. In that 'SciFi' narratives and visualisations are fictional scenarios based on scientific discoveries and discussions. Im particularly interested in how the genre of 'science fiction' can provide an example approach for design students to consider when they are conceptualising potential designs for future contexts.

The DesFi approach allows design students to put aside existing limitations… such as current issues around voice recognition, language translators or even access to personal data. These limitations are based in technical, political and sometimes ethical arguments that, although undeniably critical to design feasibility, can suspend design innovations if we only consider the policies, technologies and processes that exist right now.

My premise to the students is that such contemporary concerns may be solved by another discipline in the near or far future. Consequently, attitudes will shift, new technologies will emerge and the criteria and inventory for design specifications will change.

Limiting our design ideas to current issues may dilute the potential for innovation… but more importantly, by prototyping great imaginative design solutions, we can increase the demand for change through demonstrating the possibilities that emerge from overcoming the conditions and contingencies of designing products for only todays market and todays user."

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"The Bootcamp Bootleg is an overview of some of our most–used tools. The guide was originally intended for recent graduates of our Bootcamp: Adventures in Design Thinking class. But we've heard from folks who've never been to the d.school that have used it to create their own introductory experience to design thinking. The Bootcamp Bootleg is more of a cook book than a text book, and more of a constant work–in–progress than a polished and permanent piece. This resource is free for you to use and share – and we hope you do."

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"Politecnico di Milano, in order to present the School of Design in its own stand at Salone del Mobile 2013, asked DensityDesign to realize a 4 mt x 2 mt poster showing the structure and the efficiency of the School of Design system at Politecnico. The visualization is a picture of the 2010 / 2011 academic year. We began with the visualization of the figures related to students.

On the left side you can start following the students path from the admission test to their bachelor degree, which is connected to data related to the type of contract one year after graduation (data referred to a 2010 survey).

We decided to integrate the visualization with information related to credits distribution. Every circle is a course of study and shows its typology of exams (theoretical courses, labs, etc.) with related C.F.U. (university course credits). Inside it is shown the average of earned credits by students every year. In the right side you can see the same data related to master degree.

We also visualized how many teachers each department gives to the school of design.

The poster has been completed with information about PhDs, technical and research labs and the number of students for each school of Politecnico.

The poster was realized in one week by Gabriele Calvi and Sara De Donno with the supervision of Michele Mauri."

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"Art & Media Course in Information Design Department of Tama Art University manages various kinds of art forms by utilizing digital technologies and bio medias, such like interactive installations, audio & visual performances, software arts, bio arts, digital animations, and future cinemas. Through the background of recent dynamic changes of relationship between technology and human society, we aim to bring up new types of multi–skilled creators who can transcend the traditional boundaries of fine arts, science, engineering, mathematics and philosophy.The Course has established unique creative environment configured by four individual laboratories which has their own research themes."

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"This studio course investigates the database as cultural form (Manovich, 2001), in the context of data visualization, digital fabrication, and computational aesthetics. Traditionally viewed as a tool for scientific reasoning and data exploration, information visualization has emerged as an artistic practice, propelled by the democratization of data sources and the advancement of computer graphics. The massive amount of data collected and disseminated online constitutes the basis for this course. Participants will be introduced to the basic skills for developing creative projects in two–, three–, and four dimensions, such as indexes, graphs, prints, digitally fabricated objects and maps. Students will also become familiar with the a basic vocabulary to co–create and collaborate with professionals in future contexts.

The course focuses on current standards for web development and mobile applications, including HTML5, CSS3, jQuery, PHP, MySQL, and Processing(.js). Fundamentals in XHTML, Cascading Style Sheets, and programming are beneficial, but not required. Throughout the course, students are asked to utilize the class blog to collect and share resources, collaboratively collecting interesting data sources towards a final project. A series of presentations, screenings, readings, and discussions will expose students to creative projects and artworks in the context of information visualization. Each student selects a research topic followed by an in–class research presentation (see schedule). Participants will also present their work during class critiques and interdisciplinary workshops to receive qualitative feedback from the instructor(s) and the class."

(Daniel Sauter, University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Art and Design, Fall 2011)